


Greed

by Rroselavy



Series: 7 Deadly Sins [2]
Category: Saiyuki
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-06-29
Updated: 2010-06-29
Packaged: 2017-10-10 07:58:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/97427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rroselavy/pseuds/Rroselavy





	Greed

Ken'yuu sat in his cell and fumed. He should have seen it coming, should have known Godai would find a way to thwart his ambitions. The treacherous fuck had deliberately provoked him, because the old man _knew_ there would be no way in hell that he could keep Ken'yuu from the challenge. From _winning_ the challenge. He was the best student by far in the temple and had long ago mastered his martial arts and letters.

But all of that was a moot point, Koumyou Sanzo had seen to it. In the dim light afforded by the barred window Ken'yuu could barely make out the four parallel bruises to his wrist, testament to the blond sanzo's tremendous strength.

Where the hell had that come from? When he'd first laid eyes on the older man Ken'yuu had understood his popularity -- he imagined a long line of novices willing to prostrate themselves before the beauty - but Koumyou's head was in the clouds! What the hell was he smoking in that pipe of his anyway?

Not only was Ken'yuu furious at Godai, but also he was mortified at how much he'd underestimated the other sanzo. Certainly Koumyou didn't think so highly of Godai's star pupil now. Not that any of that mattered, tomorrow there would be a new master of Zenouji, and it wouldn't be him. His fate would be sealed as one of his classmates - sniveling lot of them - rose to take Godai's place. He drew his knees up and propped his elbows on them then dropped his head in his hands. Maybe the prick was right -- he wasn't cut out to be a sanzo. In his singular pursuit of the power of the title, he'd allowed himself to be blindsided by that brute of a master, who was most certainly his intellectual inferior! He gritted his teeth and screwed his eyes shut to hold back the tears of frustration.

"I hope I didn't hurt you." Koumyou's disembodied voice nearly caused Ken'yuu to jump out of his skin. He grimaced through his fingers -- he hadn't even felt another presence! Yet another way the man had managed to pull one over on him, he thought, as he tipped his head back to rest against the rough wall of his prison door.

"Some grip you have there for an old man," he allowed, "if that's what you really are."

"What else would I be?" Koumyou's lilting voice ended in a chuckle. "You flatter me."

"I can't believe someone like you made sanzo," he muttered, defeated.

"Neither can I. And to tell you the truth, it's really not all that it's cracked up to be. I don't know why you're trying so hard to become one. If you think life is boring now, Ken'yuu, just wait until you're a sanzo."

"That's not going to happen _now_," Ken'yuu snorted. He felt the heavy door shift on its hinges and realized that Koumyou was opposite him, leaning against it. The aroma of tobacco wafted in from the open slats of the window, confirming his suspicions.

"Why don't you just kill me?" he asked humorlessly. It could have been taken as a joke. Or not.

"Hm. Too messy, really. I don't like to get involved in trifling disputes."

Ken'yuu rolled his eyes. His life was over and this man thought it was because of something frivolous!

"I'm surprised at you, giving up so easy. Though obtaining what you want through avarice and greed - no good could come out of that," Koumyou admonished lightly.

"Easy for you to say, you sound like you didn't _want_ to become sanzo."

"All _I_ wanted was an easy life," Koumyou confessed frankly.

"I'm not like you, I need the tension, the challenge. If I'm not on top that means that someone's beaten me to it."

After a few minutes, when Koumyou didn't respond, Ken'yuu thought that he was once again alone. He crossed his arms over his knees and dropped his head to be cradled in them.

"And that's such an awful thing?" Ken'yuu jumped again. How did that man keep surprising him like that? "If you live in a dog-eat-dog world, some day it will be you who is consumed," Koumyou added cryptically.

Pft. As if he'd ever let someone get the upper hand. Ken'yuu sighed then. Someone already had -- he'd been stopped cold in his tracks; a victim of his own inflated sense of self-confidence. It served him right; if he could be bested by the old fart that ran Zenouji along with the air-headed blond, then he really didn't deserve the title of sanzo.

"I just wanted to win!" he hissed vehemently into the empty air. Cold silence answered him. "Hey, are you still there?"

He heard a soft _click_ and then nothing.

Ken'yuu stood up. He grabbed hold of the bars and shook the heavy door.

"Koumyou!" he called out in vain. He pressed his forehead against the cool wood, the weight of the world -- the weight of his failure -- pressing down on his shoulders. He dropped his arms to his sides, his left hand falling on the lever that served as the door's handle. He pressed it, expecting to feel the resistance of the deadbolt. To his surprise, the handle gave and the door swung open. Ken'yuu stumbled out into the inky night.


End file.
